“This five-pound gold piece features the iconic "Young Head" portrait of Queen Victoria, designed by William Wyon, capturing the monarch in her early reign with a timeless Neoclassical elegance.”
This gleaming gold coin presents a youthful Queen Victoria in profile, her gaze directed left. Struck in 1839, just two years after her coronation, the portrait captures her in an idealized classical style, reflecting the Neoclassicist aesthetic popular at the time. Her hair is elegantly upswept and braided, adorned with a delicate ribbon, and she wears a simple, unadorned gown. The image projects an air of serene authority, a deliberate choice for the new monarch, who was only 20 years old when this coin was minted. William Wyon, the chief engraver at the Royal Mint, designed this iconic "Young Head" effigy, which would become one of the most recognizable portraits of Victoria, appearing on British coinage for decades.
- Artist
- William Wyon
- Date
- 1839
- Medium
- gold
- Location
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Dimensions
- [object Object]
- Collection
- Medieval Art
- Culture
- England, Victoria, 1837-1901
- Credit line
- The Norweb Collection
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.
The delicate ribbon woven into Queen Victoria's braided hair.
The subtle curve of her neck, emphasizing a classical ideal.
The crisp, sharp lines of the engraving, typical of coinage.
The smooth, unblemished surface of the gold, indicating its proof quality.
Stand in front of it and listen
The full narration walks you through Five Pound Piece: Portrait of Queen Victoria (obverse) — the story behind it, the details most visitors miss, and why it matters. Free in the Art Whisper app.
William Wyon
1795–1851 · British EmpireWilliam Wyon, Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint, left an indelible mark on British coinage and even the world's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black.
Further Works by Wyon
Five Pound Piece: Una, Guiding the Lion (reverse)
1839 · Cleveland Museum of Art
Five Pound Piece: Victoria (obverse); Una (reverse)
1839 · Cleveland Museum of Art
Sovereign: Broad Crowned Shield of Arms, Olive Branches and National Emblems (reverse)
1839 · Cleveland Museum of Art
Sovereign: Victoria (obverse); Shield of Arms (reverse)
1839 · Cleveland Museum of Art
George III "Incorrupta" crown
1817 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Three Graces" crown
1817 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Study for "Flying Victory"
1825 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
George IV crown
1826 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
More works to explore
Beyond Wyon: works from the same years.
Same era · 1820s–1850s
The Estuary Farm
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1831 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard
Eugène Delacroix · 1839 · Department of Paintings of the Louvre
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Stormy Sea Breaking on a Shore
J. M. W. Turner · 1840 · Yale Center for British Art
Same era · 1820s–1850s
The Virgin Adoring the Host
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · 1841 · Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Young Woman
Jean-François Millet · 1844 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Wooded Landscape
Gustave Courbet · 1848 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Mount Chocorua and Moat Mountain from North Conway
William Hart · 1850
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Olive Trees
Vincent van Gogh · 1853 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1820s–1850s
The Fortune Teller (La Bonne Aventure)
Jacques-Louis David · 1824 · Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Woman in a Blue Dress
School of William Matthew Prior · 1840 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Designs for a Decorated Dish, or Platter, and a Biscuit Barrel
Alfred Henry Forrester [Alfred Crowquill] · 1845 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1820s–1850s
Mr. James Mackie
Samuel Alcock & Company · 1830 · Art Institute of Chicago